


Avoiding Repetition

by Shutsumon



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Gabriel Agreste might not be Hawk Moth, Gen, Hawk Moth is an Anti-villian, I can't quite decide., Implied/Referenced Character Death, Mild Language, Miraculous Ladybug PV, Non-Graphic Violence, Or he might be, Original Supporting characters - Freeform, PV Characters in 3D universe, a tale of two times
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-11
Updated: 2018-04-15
Packaged: 2018-11-12 15:53:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11165127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shutsumon/pseuds/Shutsumon
Summary: Sabine Cheng knows that Marinette is Ladybug. She wants to protect her daugher but trying to stop a superhero superheroing is futile at best.





	1. Present Day - Sabine

Sabine wished that she had realised that Marinette was Ladybug before she and Tom grounded their daughter for her recent flaky behaviour. She would have prevented it if she'd realised. After all saving Paris was a reasonable reason for a bit of tardiness. Thankfully the punishment hadn't led to disaster but it so easily could have done and it must have been inconvenient for her daughter to fit her superhero duties around being grounded.

She should have realised it was Marinette much earlier really. When she checked again after her epiphany she realised almost all of Marinette’s absenteeism and lateness corresponded with Akuma attacks or other incidents dealt with by Ladybug after all, but whatever magic protected Ladybug from being recognised had been in full force. Sabine had even considered how much like the "La Coccinelle" she remembered this new Ladybug looked without thinking through the implications

Had that really been the only reason she didn't think through the implications? Or had she not wanted to know?

Either way she'd realised now. She might have still been oblivious but what had happened when Marinette sat down with them to watch her friend Nino on TV was hard to ignore though Tom managed it somehow. He had said he was challenging Ladybug and Chat Noir to turn up within the hour and dance and Sabine had felt her daughter stiffen.. A moment later she made a flustered excuse and darted up to her room leaving Tom bemused and Sabine suddenly ice cold. She'd managed to make a flippant reply when he wondered what that was about but dread roiled in her stomach. She'd waited until  Ladybug appeared on the television and then slipped upstairs to check her daughter's room - as she had feared it had been empty.

She spent the next week or so agonising about what to do. Trying to stop a superhero being a superhero was a exercise in futility, she knew that, and anyway there was no doubt that Paris needed Ladybug with Hawk Moth running around akumatizing people but this was her daughter and she was frantic with fear that her daughter would end up sharing her predecessor's fate. She couldn't even decide if she should tell her daughter she knew but she had to do something.

The next akuma attack was nerve-wracking. They had a small TV in the shop and she watched the whole thing live, wincing every time Ladybug took a hit from a plant themed akuma with a costume that would likely get Hawk Moth sued by DC comics if they could find him. Rewilder the TV was calling her, appropriate since she was trying to transform Paris into a primeval forest.

Sabine had faith in Marinette but she still didn't relax until her daughter cleansed the Akuma and restored those parts of the city that had been overgrown.

"Mum, can I grab some cookies please?" Marinette asked from behind her.

Cookies, of course. Marinette's sudden increase in cookie raiding, especially after an akuma attack, should have been a giveaway too... and that gave Sabine an idea.

"Of course, sweetie." She turned and looked at her daughter. She was wearing a short green skirt and matching top and didn't have her bag. Nowhere to hide anything. "But could you nip down to the grocery store and buy some milk for me? I'll take the cookies up ready." She pulled some Euros from her purse and handed them to Marinette.  
  
Marinette nodded but gave a worried glanced upstairs. "I'll get my purse," she said.  
  
"Marinette, it's two doors down the road," she said. "You don't need your purse."  
  
"Okay, okay, I'll go!" Marinette said loudly enough to be heard in her attic room. If Sabine hadn't known better she would have thought Marinette was getting stroppy, but now she knew it wasn't that. "Do we just need milk?"  
  
"Yes, just milk," Sabine said. It wasn't even a lie, they did need milk.  
  
Marinette scooted out the door. Sabine flipped the door sign to say closed, grabbed a plate of cookies and headed up to her daughter's room. She didn't have a lot of time before Marinette came back. She popped the cookies on the desk next to Marinette's diary and looked around.  
  
"Come on out, Tikki," she said to the apparently empty room. "I know you're here. I've brought your favourite cookies."  
  
There was a long pause and Sabine thought the kwami might try and pretend she wasn't there but a moment later Tikki flew out from behind some books and hugged her."  
  
"Sabine!" she exclaimed. "When did you realise?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay this is both my first Fanfiction on the archive and my first for Ladybug. I'm generally working from the English names except for Chat Noir because if the adjective is in French the Noun should be too.
> 
> Anyway the first few installments are likely to be short and somewhat introspective.
> 
> I hope people like it.


	2. Present Day - Sabine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sabine and Tikki have a talk (and cookies)

"Just a couple of weeks ago actually," Sabine said. "But we don't have long so no time to catch up. Marinette will be back soon, but can you come downstairs and talk with me once Marinette and Tom are asleep this evening?"

"Of course! Thank you for the cookies." Tikki flew over to the plate and started eating. Sabine smiled at her for a moment before heading back down just in time for Marinette to get back with the milk.

"Your cookies are on your desk," Sabine said.

"Thanks, mum," Marinette replied as she ran upstairs.

Sabine sat up reading after Tom went to bed that night. Or at least that was her excuse for staying up, in actual fact she was waiting for Tikki. Sure enough about half an hour after Tom had gone upstairs the Tikki phased through the ceiling and flew to her. Human and kwami observed each other quietly for a long moment before Sabine spoke.

"So how have you been?" She winced to herself at the inanity of the question but one of them had to say something.

"Since you last saw me?" Tikki asked. "Asleep in my miraculous for most of the time until the Guardian chose Marinette for me." She hesitated. "I'm sorry I didn't get to say goodbye thirty years ago and I'm really sorry about Bridgette."

"I know," Sabine said softly. "You loved her and Felix loved her and I know you both did your best. He was devastated and I'm sure you were as well."

"I know you're worried about Marinette but I don't often lose one of my chosen that way, I promise," Tikki said.. "They tend to be lucky and creative after all. Please don't try and stop her fighting. She's the only one who can cleanse the akumas."

"I wouldn't!" Sabine exclaimed sharply. "We raised her to do the right thing so we can't complain when she does, and I know how much she's needed even if it terrifies the life out of me. I wanted to talk to you about what I can do to help and increase her chances of survival, and also do you think I should tell her I know? Not having to sneak so much might help, right?"

Tikki settled on to her lap looking thoughtful. "Only you can decide if you should tell her or not. It certainly would help her stress levels having a confidant, but you would have to tell her how you saw past the identity obscuring glamour and that means telling her about Bridgette and what happened to her. Do you think she's ready for that?"

"Possibly not," Sabine said. "But she does need to know how high the stakes are."

"I think she already does," Tikki said. “Marinette is very bright.”

They sat in meditative silence for a few minutes before Tikki spoke again.

"You know there is one thing that you can do to help protect Marinette even if you don't tell her, We've been trying to throw Alya off the scent by making her think Ladybug is some sort of immortal rather than a series of girls. I know the government tried to cover up Bridgette and Felix's activities last time but surely there's some record."

Sabine nodded thoughtfully. The authorities' acceptance of the present Ladybug and Cath Noir had been something of a surprise given how much effort the establishment had put into to claiming that the events of the mid-1980s had been mundane and debunking all supernatural elements. The fact that no-one had posted about La Cochinelle and the Black Cat on Alya's blog yet was perhaps even more so.

"I have scrap books full of clippings and photos from the underground press and fringe magazines. They were the only ones who dared suggest that La Cochinelle and the Black Cat really existed. So you want me to what? Scan the best ones and put them up on the forums at Ladyblog?"

"Yes! Exactly!"

Sabine considered the suggestion before nodding. "That is an excellent suggestion, Tikki. I shall see to it tomorrow. For now would you like some more cookies?"

Tikki giggled. "Do I ever say no to cookies?"

"Not that I know of." Sabine fetched some of the leftover cookies from the shop and left Tikki eating them as she finally went to bed. Unfortunately she still couldn't sleep. Instead she lay awake, staring into the dark and thinking of her dead half-sister and the night she found out that not only did La Cochinelle exist but that she was Bridgette.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm aware that Sabine's mother apparently lives in China but given the limited information I have to work with and the fact that Sabine is a French name and she doesn't have much of an accent I'm assuming she was born there or has lived there from a young age. It's an AU anyway so even if that's not canonically true it's the case here.
> 
> Also yes, I have flipped the language on Bridgette and Felix's superhero names. It makes it easy to distinguish them from Marinette and Adrien.


	3. 1985 - Sabine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back in 1985 Sabine challenges Bridgette about sneaking out at night and thus learns her sister's secret

Bridgette had yet again sneaked out as soon as she thought Sabine was asleep. That was the third night this week and Sabine was getting worried. She had no idea what her older sister was doing but she knew that Bridgette would be in a lot of trouble if their father found out. Better that Sabine challenge her before that happened, so she lay awake in the dark waiting for Bridgette to return.

That proved to be longer than Sabine thought it would be and she'd actually fallen back asleep again but woke when she heard the balcony door scrape open. She looked at the clock beside her bed and realised Bridgette had been out for over three hours. If this was as regular a thing as Sabine suspected then no wonder Bridgette was tired all the time. Sabine waited for a few moments while Bridgette tip-toed towards her bed and then took a breath, sat up and clicked the bedside lamp on

"Bridgette! Where have you been?" She asked.

Bridgette gave a little gasp and jumped visibly. "I-uh-um... I needed some fresh air so I popped out. Why are you awake? You have school tomorrow."

"So do you," Sabine said drily. "And you needed some fresh air? For nearly four hours?"

"Uh... yes?" Bridgette was looking more and more flustered.

"This is the third time this week... do you have a boyfriend?" It seemed unlikely - the only boy Bridgette was interested in was Felix Agreste and he was a total jerk who gave everyone the cold shoulder - but the alternatives were worse. "It's not drugs is it?"

"What? No!" Bridgette exclaimed though she kept her voice low. "Neither of those." She chewed on her lip. "Give me a moment!" She bolted for the balcony door.

Sabine raised an eyebrow, slipped out of bed and padded over to the door to try and see what her sister was doing. She peeked out and discovered that her sister appeared to be having an argument with her handbag? What in the world?

"I told you that this wouldn't work," Bridgette was saying. "Sab shares a room with me, she was bound to notice and there aren't really any excuses for my sneaking out at night that would fly with her."

"It's up to you if you tell her?" Wait, Bridgette's purse was talking? What was going on here? "But it's secret for a reason. It's not safe."

"I know," Bridgette said. "But I don't see an alternative. I'm open to suggestions if have a better idea."

There was a long pause followed by a sigh. "I'm afraid that I don't."

"It'll be okay, Tikki. I'm sure we can trust Sab not to tell anyone."

"Trust me not to tell anyone what?" Sabine said. "And who's Tikki?"

Bridgette didn't respond immediately. Instead she came back into the bedroom, shut the balcony door firmly and sat down on the bed. "You'd best sit down," she said. "And brace yourself so you don't scream."

"Why would I scream?" Sabine asked even as she did as Bridgette said.

"Well when I first met Tikki I did some quality screaming. She scared the life out of me." Bridgette opened her bag and out flew a thing. A small red and black thing that vaguely resembled some sort of ladybug themed plushie. It was very cute and if it had actually been a plushie Sabine would have wanted it for her collection but this thing was clearly alive and equally clearly it was something supernatural. "This is Tikki," Bridgette said. "She's my kwami."

"Hello, Sabine," Tikki said. "Lovely to meet you."

Sabine managed not to scream but she couldn't suppress a quiet squeak. "W-what are you?"

"She's my kwami," Bridgette repeated. "She's my wise advisor, she loves cookies, is a great friend... and she transforms me into La Cochinelle."

"Wait, what?" Sabine had heard the stories about La Cochinelle and the Black Cat that had started circulating in Paris in the last month, of course. Stories of people going missing and reappearing days later as monsters, and stories of a pair of superheroes who fought and saved these victims There was no evidence any of it was true. The authorities said the stories were a mix of hoaxes and mass hysteria triggered by the hoaxes and the reputable press wouldn't even report on the stories. "But La Cochinelle doesn't exist."

"Doesn't she?" Bridgette rose to her feet. "Tikki, spots on!"

Tikki was drawn into one of Bridgette's earrings and a red glow so bright that Sabine had to look away engulfed her. When she managed to look back La Cochinelle was standing there, looking exactly like the stories and she was quite clearly Bridgette.

This time Sabine only kept from screaming by shoving her knuckles in her mouth until the urge passed. It wasn't so much that her sister was a superhero – that was quite cool - it was that La Cochinelle existing meant the rest of the stories were probably true as well. The rest of stories were terrible and frightening.

La Cochinelle turned back into Bridgette and flopped onto her bed. "I know it's a lot to take in. You need time to process it before I tell you the rest and we do have school tomorrow. I need to get some sleep as well. Can we talk about it after school?"

Sabine wanted to protest and pepper her sister with questions but instead she forced herself to nod. Bridgette was right after all, she did need to sleep. "Okay, after school." She turned out the light and heard Bridgette get into bed. It didn't take long for Bridgette to doze off but Sabine wished she was so lucky. Her mind was racing in circles and she didn't sleep a wink for the rest of the night.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took a while to write. The 1985 sections are harder to write for some reason.


	4. 1985 - Sabine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we learn about the enemies of 1985 who aren't Hawk Moth but have a similar modus operando albeit sans miraculous.

School, as it turned out, was a chore when you were acting on little sleep and a great deal of shock, but Sabine made it through somehow. Afterwards Bridgette brought them both bottles of Orangina to drink while they sat in a quiet spot in the park.

"So where do you want me to start?" Bridgette asked after they had sat in silence for what seemed like forever but was probably only a couple of minutes.

"The beginning I guess," Sabine said. "How did you get Tikki and those earrings and where did she come from?"

"I've really no idea where she came from," Bridgette said. "But she claims to be thousands of years old and I've no reason to disbelieve her. I got her and the earrings at the same time. I first met her when I found a small black box in my bag. I opened it and the studs were in it. As soon as I touched them she appeared."

"And then you screamed?" Sabine asked remembering what Bridgette had said the night before.

"Oh yes," Bridgette said. "It's a good job no one else was in."

"She screamed a lot," Tikki said. "I had to calm her down before I could explain."

"It's the explaining I could do with," Sabine said. "What are you mixed up in? How much of the rumours are true?"

"Ah," Bridgette said. "Pretty much all of them?"

"So the Black Cat is real as well?" Sabine asked.

Bridgette pulled a face at the mention of the Black Cat but it was Tikki who replied

"Yes, he gets his powers from my other half and opposite Plagg. Where Bridgette gets good luck and creative powers he gets bad luck and destruction. In both cases their powers leak into their normal life."

Sabine considered this information and frowned. "Bad luck leakage sounds bad," she said finally.

"Believe me you have no idea!" Bridgette exploded. "Half the time his powers either cancel out or completely override mine when we're fighting an Imago. It's nearly gotten me killed at least once - though I will concede his Cataclysm power has got us out of a few tough spots. La Chrysalide are a dangerous and scary enemy."

"So you don't like the Black Cat?" Sabine asked even as she filed the other things away for later in the conversation.

Bridgette snorted. "He's a good fighter but he seems more interested in pursuing me than saving the imago and restoring them to normal. A few nights ago he declared his undying love to me on a girder halfway up the Eiffel Tower. I've told him I'm not interested but he persists."

Sabine choked slightly at that and began to giggle. "Look who's talking."

"What?" Bridgette looked confused.

"That's exactly how you are treating Felix Agreste, Bridgette," Sabine pointed out.

"T-That's not the same thing at all," Bridgette said,

"Really?" Sabine couldn't keep the sarcasm out of her tone. "Let's see? You follow him around like a love-lorn puppy. You constantly invite him on dates which he refuses. You even know his out of school activities off by heart. It's pathetic and not really healthy. I don't know what you see him but if he wasn't such an emotionless jerk he'd probably run a mile every time he saw you." She bit her lip. "But we can talk about your stalkery behaviour later we need to talk about your superhero stuff first. What are La Chrysalide and Imago? The enemies you fight?"

"I just want him to notice me." Bridgette pinched the bridge of her nose. "But yeah, the enemy. According to Tikki La Chrysalide are the latest incarnation of an ancient cult that seeks to remake the world in their image. According to Tikki they've tried to locate and steal the Miraculous – especially the Butterfly one - hundreds of times throughout the centuries as their power could help this time but something is different this time." She touched her earring when she mentioned the Miraculous Sabine noticed.

"Different?" she asked.

"Yes," Tikki said. "They are still after the miraculous but it seems almost an after thought and they seem to have found a way to mimic – albeit imperfectly - the effects of the butterfly one.  I fear they may have found a way to move forward in their plans without our power."

"So these are a miraculous?" Sabine touched one of her sister's ear studs.

"That's right," Tikki said. "They are all jewellery of one sort or another."

"And their plans are. The rumours say people are disappearing and reappearing days later as monsters?"

Bridgette nodded. "Apparently the Butterfly miraculous grants its holder the power to grant magical superpowers to people which is why La Chrysalide wanted it. Only they now have some other way to do that without it because they are turning people into monsters which call themselves Imago."

"It's slower than Nooroo's method which is why they want it," Tikki said.

"That and that whole butterfly aesthetic they have going on," Bridgette said. "But they seem to be forcibly infusing magic into people somehow, and most of the ones we encounter are rejects apparently which worries me because where are the successful ones? But we have managed to cleanse them and fix all the damage and death so far."

"Fix.... wait you can raise the dead?" Sabine felt her brain start to freeze up again. How powerful was her sister?

"Only if they died as a result of the Imago or our battle with it," Bridgette said. "There's some really odd limitations on my powers but all the damage done by an Imago I have battled can be fixed as if it never happened." She finished drinking her Orangina. "Let's go home, you're starting to look a bit wild eyes again so I think you have enough to process again."

"One more question. What do La Chrysalide actually want?"

"Change," Tikki said. "Magic. They want to transform the world into a magical one as if it weren't already. Trouble is not only do they not care who they hurt to do it but they are likely to unintentionally tear the world apart with the forces they are playing with."

"I see." Sabine finished her own drink. "I think that's enough for today. Shall we talk about your stalking habits instead, Bridgette?"

"I'm not a stalker!" Bridgette said.

"Right.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm adding the POV character's names as well the time to chapter titles as I've decided it's not going to be just Sabine's PoV.
> 
> I see people comment on 3D Marinette's stalkery behaviour towards Adrien on occassion but according to my research she's actually been toned down a lot from the original conception. PV Marinette (Bridgette is a fan name for her which I'm using to avoid confusion) was planned to be far more bold and therefore more stalkery because she was bolder and didn't get tongue tied around Felix.
> 
> I invented La Chrysalide because I wanted to keep all of the butterfly imagery without having poor Nooroo being used twice. Plus who doesn't like a good ancient conspiracy as a superheroes antagonist.
> 
> (Edited to fix some faults)


	5. Present Day - Alya

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alya gets more than one shocking post of the Ladyblog boards. Bad enough someone is telling her that there was a Ladybug in the 80s but now there's a poster claiming to be Hawk Moth.

Alya always checked the Ladyblog forums on her lunch. Her readers sometimes posted great quality videos and photographs of Ladybug and Chat Noir and she liked to see them immediately so she could get straight on getting the requisite permissions from the owner to post  them on the main site. She had been hoping that someone had got some better footage of the Rewilder's attack but there were no particularly interesting new posts about it, the forest that had grown up had been too thick for easy filming.

One new thread did catch her attention, however, partly because of the odd title and partly because it was blowing up: "Why are we not talking about the mid-1980s?"

"What do the 1980s have to do with Ladybug? Why is this thread so busy?" She clicked through to the thread ready to lock it. Then froze when she saw the scanned images in the opening. "What the hell!"

"What's up?" Nino leaned across to look at the phone.

"According to this poster on the forums there was a Ladybug and Chat Noir active in Paris in the 1980s?" She skimmed the post. "And they dealt with people who had been turned into super-powered monsters as well."

"I think we'd know if that were true, babe," he said. "Surely it would be common knowledge and even if not the press would mention it."

"Yeah," Alya said. "Except apparently the government covered it up." She frowned at the small screen. "There's photos too." She showed him the best one. A scan of the cover of some sort of underground paranormal zine with a black and white cover photo of a young woman who looked just like Ladybug but with a slightly different costume and longer somewhat shaggier hair.

Nino glanced at it. "Photoshop," he shrugged.

"Maybe," Alya said as she scrolled down to the replies and began skimming them. Many of the posts agreed with Nino that it was a fake but some of the older posters remembered hearing rumours and one or two even swore they'd seen La Cochinelle and Black Cat back then. Curious. She was about to close the thread and go back to it when was at her own computer when she saw one reply from an occassional poster that turned her blood to ice.

> _Hmmm... I really don't much care for being compared to La Chrysalide._

> _Hawk Moth_

"Hawk Moth reads my blog?" Alya's chair clattered sideways as she shrieked and leapt her feet.

"What?" Nino grabbed the phone off her and stared at the message. "It must be another hoax. I mean he might read your blog hoping you'll get the scoop on Ladybug and Chat Noir's identities but I doubt he'd out himself. He has to know you'd ban him."

"Yeah," Alya said dubiously. "I would, but then I'd ban someone for hoaxing as well." She would have to look into this this evening. She took one last look at the thread as the bell for the end of lunch rang and they headed back to class trying to ignore the churning in her gut.

She must have still looked freaked out when she sat down because Marinette – who was on time for once – laid a concerned hand on her forearm.

"Are you okay? You're shaking."

Alya looked down and saw that her hands were indeed trembling. She just shook her head and showed Marinette the thread and the offending post while they waited for Miss Bustier.

Marinette read it and her eyes went as big as saucers. "Do you think this is real?"

"I don't know. I'm going to try and find out if this evening but this is so scary. What if it's real?" She paused and read the message again. "And what or who is La Chrysalide? I'm sure the Opening Poster didn't mention them."

"A Chrysalis is the pupa of a butterfly," Miss Bustier said as she came through the door. "What it emerges from after it has finished transforming." She gave Alya a thoughtful look. "I saw the post on your blog forums. Can I speak to you after school please, Alya? I may be able to help you."

"Er... sure," Alya said.

"Thank you," she said. "Now put away your phones and turn to page seventy-one in your textbooks."

Alya did as instructed but her mind was racing. Even if the post wasn't from Hawk Moth Nino had a point, he could well lurk on the site hoping she'd find Ladybug and Chat Noir's identity, and Alya had been poking around trying to do just that. She could have put them in serious danger. She tried to focus on the page but her brain would not be quiet.

While a few people had been targeted before that whole thing with the text book – Nino, Alix and of course Ivan came to mind – there had been an upsurge of akumas going after her classmates and people connected to them after she posted that video. Had Hawk Moth seen it and tried to flush Ladybug out. Thank goodness she hadn't posted her suspicions. That would have made things worse She wasn't going to stop poking around but no way would she post her findings after this... and perhaps she could come up with a few plausible but untrue theories to throw him off.

Her reverie was broken by Marinette elbowing her in the ribs and she realised Miss Bustier was looking at her expectantly?

"I'm sorry, I missed what you said, Miss," she said.

Miss Bustier sighed. "Please try and keep your head out of your blog for the duration of the lesson, Alya. And would you start reading at the start of the second paragraph?"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The fact that episodes in season one are not chronological doesn't help with working out a timeline but a whole lot of them are clustered in May. For our purposes assume the events of Pharoah kicked off said cluster.


	6. Present Day - Alya

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alya finds out how Miss Bustier thinks she can help;

"What would you like to drink?" Rather than talking to her in the classroom Miss Bustier had taken Alya to a quiet cafe near the school. "Coke? Orangina?"

"Coke, please." Alya stared at her teacher curiously. "I take it I'm not in trouble?"

"Oh no!" Miss Bustier said. "I meant what I said about being able to help you." She ordered a coffee and a coke and led Alya to a quiet booth at the back.

"Help with what?"

"I assume you want to check the provenance of those scans that someone posted on your blog?" she said. 

Alya nodded. 

"Good, I can help with that," Miss Bustier said. "The scans were mostly from a zine called 'Paris Occulte' that was something of an underground hit in the eighties and early nineties. It was popular enough that there's an unofficial archive. I can get you in."

"And you know this how?"

"My oldest sister wanted to be a journalist," Miss Bustier said. "She is a journalist actually. But back then Paris Occulte was her baby like your blog is yours. In fact she's a great admirer of your blog so I know she'd say yes to letting you in if I asked her. I assume you want me to ask her?"

"So... it's not a photoshop?" Alya asked.

Miss Bustier shook her head. "No. La Cochinelle and the Black Cat existed. I was very young at the time but I saw them once. She even gave my sister an interview."

"Then yes, I'd be very interested. Do you think your sister would give me an interview?"

"Probably but she'll want you to use her pen name of "La Sorcière". Her bosses don't know she involved in Paris Occulte and even today it could close doors to her. The establishment really didn't like people reporting on what was happening. I suspect they would have tried to cover it up this time as well but it's hard to hide something like Stoneheart especially when everyone and their aunt has a video camera in their pockets these days."

 

Alya snorted. "I can imagine. I can preserve your sister's anonymity, yes. A good journalist always protects their sources and anyway I think I've had a lesson on the importance of secret identities today."

"The comment from someone claiming to be Hawk Moth?" Caline tilted her head. "I'd be inclined to write that off as a hoax except that he mentioned La Chrysalide and that was who La Cochinelle and the Black Cat were fighting against according to my sister... and no one else had mentioned them. It seems like an odd thing to say in a hoax."

"Hoax or not he could read my blog," Alya said.

Miss Bustier nodded. "He'd be foolish not to. Though I'd be more concerned by the fact he's apparently zeroing in on the school for some reason. You must have noticed how many akumas are connected to it."

Alya nodded seriously. "I have. I hope it's not my fault."

"Of course it isn't," Miss Bustier said. "I'll take you to meet Veronique on Saturday afternoon if that's okay."

 

***

 

After she left the cafe Alya hurried straight to Marinette's home. She was so excited she had to share this with someone, and who better than her best friend. Sabine smiled at her when she opened the door and told Alya that Marinette was working on one of her fashion projects. 

"You won't believe what a scoop I've scored thanks to Miss Bustier!" Alya announced as she pushed the trapdoor open. 

"What is it?" Marinette as it turned out was reading the thread about La Cochinelle on the Ladyblog rather than working on whatever project she had meant to..

"Those pictures," Alya jabbed Marinette's computer screen, "Are definately not fake. Miss Bustier's sister ran the Zine they're from and Miss Bustier is going to get me an interview wth her. It's so cool!"

"An interview with La Cochinelle?" Marinette asked in an odd tone.

"No, with her sister," Alya said. "Though I wonder what happened to La Cochinelle and the Black Cat? Maybe she'll know. She's going to get me into the archive so I can read all about it. Want to come along?"

Marinette bit her lip and then nodded. "I think I'd like that." 

"Great!" Alya looked over her shoulder at the thread. "Has that supposed Hawkmoth posted again?"

Marinette shook her head. "No, but more photos have been posted and some eye witness accounts. I think Miss Bustier is right, this really happened." She seemed subdued for some reason.

"Girls! Would you like some cookies?" Sabine appeared through the hatch with a plate.

"Thanks, mum!" Marinette said.

"Is that Alya's blog you're looking at?" she asked. "The one about Ladybug?"

"Yes." Alya paused as she realised something. "You must have been a teen in the eighties. Do you remember anything about a Ladybug and Chat Noir back then."

Sabine smiled warmly. "Oh yes, I actually knew La Cochinelle. She saved my life several times in that crazy three years when all hell broke loose in Paris and ."

"Really?" Marinette stared at her mother.

"Can I get an interview for the Ladyblog?" Alya said simultaneously.

Sabine's smile widened and Alya was sure she was going to say yes. 

Unfortunately the blaring of an Akuma alarm interrupted them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's taken me this long to update. I have been prevaricating on if I should I stay with my original plot or go with the season two revelations about Hawkmoth's identity. I'm still not sure as you can tell by the tags. Watch the tags - they'll change once I make up my mind.


	7. Veronique (1985)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In 1985 Veronique Bustier finds out more than she wanted to about La Chrysalide

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, yeah, I need to add a tag for Original Supporting Characters as well. It's inevitable as most of the Present Day cast weren't alive in 1985.
> 
> Also fair warning if I did my job right the second half of this part should be creepy as heck.

Veronique sat on her bed and looked through the latest pictures she had managed to take of La Cochinelle and the Black Cat fighting some sort of semi-humanoid green skinned River Monster that had emerged from the Seine. It had been smashing buildings and bridges and turning them into pure water at a touch while roaring about destroying polluters and purifying the world. She'd managed to get close enough to capture some pretty good shots of both the battle and devastation and she picked out the best for the next issue of "Paris Occulte". 

They were good, but not good enough to prove what was happening. You would think that it would be proof positive of what was going on in Paris but by now she knew better. It wasn't even worth trying to sell this pictures to the mainstream press. They wouldn't be allowed to take them nor to print anything about what was going on. Her mentor had even warned her that if the authorities found out about her involvement in "Paris Occulte" and its reporting of what was going on might lead to her being blacklisted and unable to get a job in journalism when she finished school.

That only made her more determined to report the truth.

Unfortunately many people seemed to be in denial, even people who had witnessed an attack tended to try and deny what had happened. There was an almost desperate willingness to accept that they'd fallen victim to a mass-hallucination or other such nonsense rather than believe in magic. The fact that La Cochinelle could undo all the damage caused by the monsters didn't help with gathering proof either. It was a good thing, of course, hundreds of people would be dead if she couldn't, but sometimes Veronique couldn't help wishing that the property damage would remain so people couldn't deny that their city was under attack by unknown forces any more.

On the upside she'd managed to identify the victim this time, an environmentalist who had gone missing a week earlier. He was dazed and confused after La Cochinelle had cleansed him but had agreed to give her an interview that weekend when she had ran up to them in the aftermath though he had warned her he remembered very little of what had happened.

And circulation was up! Even with the authorities trying to crack down - they'd had to move their press twice in last month to avoid raids - people were beginning to realise what was happening.

A beep from her wristwatch alerted her that she was due to go over to her best friend Bridgette's place to work on their maths homework together. So she grabbed her bag and camera and headed out. 

She was about halfway there when a roaring noise and a lurid column of green and purple light erupting from the park alerted her that another attack was underway. She pulled her camera from its case and raced towards it. This time she would get absolute proof.

She had barely gone ten yards when someone grabbed her from behind. She tried to struggle but a soft cloth was pressed over her mouth and she smelled something sweet for just a second before the world went black.

 

***

 

She woke slowly. Her head was aching, her mouth was parched and spasms of intense nausea gripped her stomach. Yet the worst thing was that she had no idea where she was or how she had got there. The last thing she remembered was hurrying towards another attack.

She opened her eyes cautiously and found that she was floating in a tank of some sort of dark liquid. It blurred her vision but she could see her camera floating in front of her. It was glowing with the lurid green and purple light as the columns that presaged an attack. Her clothes were gone as well replaced by strange floating robes that seemed somehow to part of her rather than simple garments.

This was not good.

_Ah, you're awake my pretty imago, La Sorcière. That was quick, we were expecting you to pupate for at least another day._

The soft, seductive voice was inside her head but Veronique was both certain of its reality and that it was a very bad thing.Instinct kicked in and instead of responding she tried to push the voice away. 

_Tsk, La Sorcière that won't do when we're trying to help._ The voice became louder, impossible to ignore, impossible to disbelieve. _You want to reveal the truth of magic to Paris and the World and so do we.  
_

_Yes!  Yes, I do!_ Part of Veronique's mind was still screaming at her to fight but it was becoming fainter by the minute as he whispered to her.

_We've given you the power to do just that. Magic is your birthright. Humanity's birthright. Seize it. Take up your camera and go and reveal it to the world along with the enemies who would keep it from us.  
_

_Yes!_ She reached out, grabbed the glowing camera and the last of her doubts dissipated along with her memories of her former life. Everything made sense now.

The liquid around La Sorcière flowed away and she floated down to a crystal plinth. A man with white hair and pale almost colourless eyes held out his hand to her help her down. 

"Welcome to us, La Sorcière." 

His voice filled her with joy, it was the voice of La Chrysalide. His will was its will _,_ and since she was part of it her will too. She bent her knee and bowed her head to him. _  
_

"My Lord. What is La Chrysalide's bidding?"

"Seek out our enemies, draw them out into the open and reveal their identities, my imago. Crush them if you can."

"La Cochinelle and the Black Cat," she said before adding hopefully. "Can I hurt them?"

"We'd be disappointed in you if you didn't." His cruel smile was delightful. "They deserve it for trying to keep magic for themselves. Show no mercy. We want them utterly broken and pleading for death before we grant it."

"It will be as La Chrysalide desires," she said. "Magic is our birthright."


End file.
